|
|
|
| Welcome to Swifty's Garage. We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Thank You, The Swifty's Garage Team Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features. |
| JL Blog; Monaco & Aspen | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 22 2010, 04:20 PM (712 Views) | |
| craftymore | Apr 22 2010, 04:20 PM Post #1 |
![]()
Support your local demo derby.
![]()
|
Tom Z has some new pics up of what the '77 Dodge Monaco casting will look like. Sounds like the Monaco will be featured in a demo derby version as well! He also has a 1/1 Dodge Aspen PIP for inspiration for hopefully an upcoming version of the new Aspen casting as well.http://jllightning.blogspot.com/ Might I suggest this paint scheme for the upcoming Monaco derby car.
|
![]() |
|
| Swifty | Apr 22 2010, 05:03 PM Post #2 |
![]()
The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
|
The Monaco and the Aspen! Updates on both! SWEET!!!!!! Monaco looks perfect- and in addition to the police and derby schemes, it almost sounds like some stock regular sedans might be coming with this casting as well. Dare I get my hopes up? And opening hood on the Monaco means a sweet 440 under the hood, no doubt! I can't wait! My only concern is I don't see the grill cast into the casting, so I'm worried we might end up with a tampoed on grill. Hopefully this is just me worrying over nothing. The real Aspen pics are pretty much what all of them look like- a friend of mine won a full size derby with one of them, so hopefully we'll see the Aspen doing derby duty also. Now how about the Eagle SX4 & Citation? I've been eagerly anticipating all of these castings! I know a lot of people have lost faith in JL over the past few years but.... to me, this looks like a fresh new beginning- something to be excited about! 2.0 Forever!
|
![]() |
|
| craftymore | Apr 22 2010, 10:43 PM Post #3 |
![]()
Support your local demo derby.
![]()
|
Agree with you on the 2.0 deal Swifty. Maybe JL can pull another turnaround as they have been deemed doa multiple times yet they keep rolling with the punches. The Aspen is one of the better 'sleeper' derby cars. Pretty tough little cars. There have been threads about Aspens on wecrash and with a bit of welding and smart driving, they can compete vs full size. |
![]() |
|
| WoloMan | Apr 24 2010, 07:48 AM Post #4 |
|
Midsize
|
Mr. Negativity here... With all the great cars that have yet to be done, to see a '78 when a '77 has already been done seems superfluous, especially with an MBX already out there. Great...there is under-hood detail...how about solving the supply chain problems that has plagued JL for years now? It doesn't help to have awesome details but you can only get them from an OLD or eBay...the hunt is 50% of the fun of collecting for me. Perhaps it is time for JL to retire or be bought by a bigger company. Not a big fan of the Aspen, but I respect its place in automotive history and nice to have it represented. However, JL is taking a big chance with a car that doesn't really have a following and is not one of the more popular cars of the '70s. Wasn't there another company that did similar less-popular cars like the Pacer, Pinto, Matador, Granada, etc? Oh, yes...Motor Max/Fresh Cherries...and look where they are today! This car has peg-warmer written all over it...perhaps that would be an excellent tampo design... That's my so (I can take the heat) Edited by WoloMan, Apr 24 2010, 07:50 AM.
|
![]() |
|
| Sak | Apr 25 2010, 06:49 AM Post #5 |
![]()
Ezekiel 25:17
|
The Aspen grille reminds me of that of a Maverick based Mercury Comet...which reminds me of the grille of a Mark III Ford Cortina...which.... I can go on Positive: Johnny Lightning's working on new things. Negative: will I ever see them on my pegs here? |
![]() |
|
| James | Apr 25 2010, 09:26 PM Post #6 |
|
Mr.Bowtie
|
I refuse to believe anything that I see from JL until I see it on a peg in the Summerside Walmart.......Just have been let down too often in the past. |
![]() |
|
| Swifty | Apr 26 2010, 06:22 PM Post #7 |
![]()
The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
|
While I agree that the '77 Monaco is becoming an over-represented car in small scale, I applaud JL for casting it nonetheless. The Matchbox is great, and I suspect that the reason JL is only now doing this car is because they've seen collectors snapping them up (I was begging for it for years!). But JL has something Matchbox doesn't (above and beyond the opening hood/engine detail)- they have "The Dukes Of Hazzard" license and a proper '77 Monaco is necessary to do the patrol cars correctly. The '74 (Bluesmobile casting) is only semi-accurate (it was used in the first few episodes and then never seen again). I was really hoping JL would go out on a limb and do the '75-'76 Coronet and '75-'78 Fury while they were at it. All they'd need is a different front clip and different taillight inserts in the back bumper. Pretty simple and would give the Dukes fans even more accurate castings. Not to mention a little more variety to the rest of the collectors out there who might be Monaco-ed out. That said, I can see JL giving us stock, taxi, and demolition derby versions of this casting- something else that I don't think we'll see from Matchbox. As for the Aspen, the Fresh Cherries line sold very well. It ultimately failed because of distribution issues. My store (and others) kept getting the same waves of the same cars over and over again. I never saw the Mopars, only the first few Fords and AMCs. My Walmart cleared about 5 full sets of the first few releases until pegwarmer-itis set in. So I'm interested to see how the Aspen will do. JL has done the Pinto, Gremlin, and Maverick already and none clogged the pegs that I remember. But hey, this is my era of cars so I'll defend these choices (and the AMC Eagle SX/4 and the Chevy Citation- both of which I hope are still coming!) to the death! That said I welcome hearing the other side of the story- just in case JL looks in on this thread it never hurts to see that some folks are excited while others are underwhelmed. Hopefully they'll have something else more to your liking in the near future |
![]() |
|
| accobra64 | Apr 26 2010, 08:54 PM Post #8 |
![]()
Minivan
|
When I actually see a 3" Johnny Lightning casting in a blister hanging from a peg at my local Walmart, I will be a BELIEVER. Until then, it doesn't matter how many or how few castings are made by Learning Curve Brands. Poor or no distribution does not sell product. Constantly empty pegs at the local level for months on end is NOT conducive to selling product no matter how good it may be. Here is a message that I posted at JLTalk.com on April 24th and I will post it here in its entirety: Collecting new and newer JL castings at the present time is on the back burner for me. Not finding JL castings in local stores in recent times has caused me to presently not actively collect the plastic based castings. I've missed so many of them that I'm at a point where I'm not even sure that I want to bother collecting them. It has been relatively quiet around here at JLTalk.com for some time, so it may be possible that other long time JL collectors have given up or are not interested in the plastic based castings. Bottom line, if you can't find them in stores you can't buy them. I still stop by my local Walmart on a fairly regular basis to find pegs completely and constantly void of JL castings. Price tags on pegs but no product. A fact of life for a very long time. So how can a collector get excited about things you can't find or buy? You don't and eventualy you throw in the towel. I enjoy this site and have enjoyed collecting JL castings in the past but as each day passes the flame keeps getting dimmer and dimmer. And in case anyone asks, I just can't justify continuosly spending extra money to get the castings out of the U.S. For collectors like me living in Canada, that is an expensive proposition at the best of times. Factor in shipping and handling fees, Customs fees, and exchange rates, and some times the lack of availibilty of castings that you want; it's not a cheap happening. I have been on holidays and have not missed looking for diecast. That's a good sign. I'm still around and will check in periodically to see what's going on. Cheers. Cobra I must also say that I enjoy all my visits to Swifty's Garage. We have some wonderful people here who share our passion and love of little diecast cars. I returned to work today after a great vacation away from diecast. I will continue to check in and post here. Johnny Lightning castings may be on the back burner but my love for diecast cars hasn't died. I am NOW enjoying collecting Greenlight castings. Another company is getting my money. I am also working on a couple of diecast projects that DO involve JL castings, just not the new plastic based ones. When I am finished I may post some pictures. Cheers. Cobra |
![]() |
|
| JustDavid | Apr 26 2010, 10:01 PM Post #9 |
![]()
SUV
|
My Uncle Bob had a green Volare...he used to get mad at me for playing with the power windows. I'd like to find the Aspen but I'm not holding my breath. My local WM hasn't had any JLs for a l-o-n-g time. And the black Typhoon is a must-have. |
![]() |
|
| James | Apr 27 2010, 06:33 AM Post #10 |
|
Mr.Bowtie
|
I hope they cast the Citation in the 2 door hatchback. Is it too much to hope teh hatchback would open...... Cream over beige would make a nice stock color for teh Cit.... |
![]() |
|
| TZ Lightning | Apr 30 2010, 08:54 AM Post #11 |
|
Subcompact
|
James, the Citation will be a 2-door hatchback. Tom Z |
![]() |
|
| James | Apr 30 2010, 09:18 AM Post #12 |
|
Mr.Bowtie
|
Holy Ghost Batman, Mr Z is in teh house!!!! Welcome aboard Tom, This is a great place to hang out, Lots of chatter about diecast of "shudder" and make, model or type. I realize you may hang out mostly in the JL bay, but thats great. Just don't drink the coffee Swifty has, its terrible. Now about that Citation, cream over brown, cream over beige, some thing like that... |
![]() |
|
| Swifty | Apr 30 2010, 04:41 PM Post #13 |
![]()
The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
|
Welcome Tom! Glad to hear the Citation's still coming though I was hoping for the four door. Either way it's a great addition to the line-up! |
![]() |
|
| craftymore | Apr 30 2010, 06:54 PM Post #14 |
![]()
Support your local demo derby.
![]()
|
Welcome to the Garage Tom. We need more derby bait!
|
![]() |
|
| ivantt | May 1 2010, 10:21 AM Post #15 |
|
New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
|
I've bought more JL's in the past 6 months than all the time from 1999 to then, due to the lower cost and availability at WM of the newer series. I won't turn my nose up at any just because the bases are plastic. BUT...... As stated above by a number of our members here, fragmented distruibution, esp. at WM hurts the ability to obtain these cars and frustrates me. The cars are still peg hanged at Toys R Us (good) but their stock is slow moving or lags when the pegs get thin. This new merchandising at WM (on the shelf in boxes or just laid loose) is sloppy and damages merchandise, which turns off the casual buyer, (and especially the cardboard collectors) which means no stock rotation. I've driven to at least half of the WM's in the Las Vegas area (there's got to be more than a dozen) and many of them don't even sell the JL's. At $2 each, I buy all of those I want, and sometimes extra. At TRU's $2.79, I'm more choosy. Mail order prices for just a few cars you want is prohibitive to my hobby spending, or limits my budget for such. If I can obtain HW's, MB, Maisto, and a lot of the M2's easily enough nowdays, then JL needs to get some regional merchandisers busy at these stores working with department managers to keep product available. And if Tom Z is reading this, thanks for pushing through the new castings, that is well appreciated. Best of success on these. If I can FIND them, I'll buy them all, some in multiples! |
![]() |
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · Bay 1: Johnny Lightning · Next Topic » |
| Track Topic · E-mail Topic |
2:05 PM Jul 11
|






He also has a 1/1 Dodge Aspen PIP for inspiration for hopefully an upcoming version of the new Aspen casting as well.




This car has peg-warmer written all over it...perhaps that would be an excellent tampo design...
so



2:05 PM Jul 11